Churchill China Share News (CHH)

LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares have opened higher across the board Friday, following stock-market gains in the US and Asia overnight and as markets start to factor in further action by the European Central Bank to jump-start the anaemic eurozone economy.

Miners lead the FTSE 100, as BHP Billiton unveiled plans to shed non-core assets, while platinum firm Johnson Matthey was raised straight to Conviction Buy from Neutral by Goldman Sachs.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.5% at 6,717.17
FTSE 250: up 0.4% at 15,738.91
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.3% at 756.61
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Hang Seng: up 0.7% at 24,982.05
Nikkei 225: closed flat at 15,318.34
DJIA: closed up 0.4% at 16,713.58
S&P 500: closed up 0.4% at 1,955.18
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GBP-USD: flat at USD1.6684
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3375

GOLD: flat at USD1,312.72 per ounce
OIL (Brent): flat at USD102.09 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times British Summer Time)

holiday France and Italy Assumption Day
09:30 UK Gross Domestic Product and Index of Services
13:30 Canada Manufacturing Shipments
13:30 US NY Empire State Manufacturing Index
13:30 US Producer Price Index
14:00 US Net TIC Flows
14:15 US Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization
14:55 US Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Preliminary
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Iraq's outgoing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki withdrew his bid Thursday for a third term in favour of Shiite National Alliance candidate Haider al-Abadi. The move could end months of political wrangling that had continued in Baghdad even as Islamic State jihadists strengthened their hold on swathes of northern and western Iraq. "I announce to you today that, to facilitate the political process and the formation of the new government, I am withdrawing my candidacy in favour of Dr Haider al-Abadi...in the supreme national interest," al-Maliki said in an address on state television.
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The United Nations on Thursday designated its highest level emergency for the humanitarian crisis in Iraq, citing the scale and complexity of the situation, which is impacting tens of thousands of people that have been forcefully displaced by the armed group, Islamic State. The "Level 3 Emergency" designation will "facilitate mobilization of additional resources in goods, funds and assets to ensure a more effective response to the humanitarian needs of populations affected by forced displacements," said the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov. UN officials are particularly concerned about the situation on Sinjar Mountain, where thousands of Iraqis, mostly members of the Yazidi minority community, remain trapped and the health conditions quickly deteriorating.
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A Russian military convoy was in Ukrainian territory Friday, media reports said. The convoy consisting of armoured personnel carriers, fuel tankers and other logistics vehicles crossed the Russia-Ukraine border late Thursday, the British newspapers The Guardian and The Telegraph reported. The vehicles were tagged with official Russian plates, The Guardian said. The convoy waited until darkness fell before using a rough track to cross through a gap in a barbed wire fence that marks the border and entering territory in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian rebels, The Guardian reported. The crossing happened on the border near the Russian town of Donetsk, around 200 kilometres east of its Ukrainian namesake. A Russian aid convoy consisting of almost 280 trucks has halted on the Russian side of the border.
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The EU plans to buy up stocks of fruit and vegetables hit by a Russian ban on the bloc's agricultural products, EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos announced Thursday. EU member states were struggling in particular to sell tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, peppers and cauliflower, a spokesman for Ciolos said after a meeting of EU agriculture experts in Brussels. Details of the planned measures are to be announced early next week.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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GOLDMAN RAISES JOHNSON MATTHEY TO 'CONVICTION BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 3980 PENCE
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JPMORGAN RAISES CARILLION PRICE TARGET TO 330 (300) PENCE - 'NEUTRAL'
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JPMORGAN CUTS BALFOUR BEATTY PRICE TARGET TO 220 (230) PENCE - 'UNDERWEIGHT'
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TRADERS: INVESTEC RAISES BALFOUR BEATTY TO 'HOLD' ('SELL')
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DEUTSCHE BANK CUTS OPHIR ENERGY PRICE TARGET TO 280 (330) PENCE - 'BUY'
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CREDIT SUISSE CUTS OPHIR ENERGY PRICE TARGET TO 295 (305) PENCE - 'OUTPERFORM'
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UBS CUTS OPHIR ENERGY PRICE TARGET TO 230 (250) PENCE - 'NEUTRAL'
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UBS RAISES PREMIER OIL TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 380 (345) PENCE
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JPMORGAN RAISES DERWENT LONDON TO 'OVERWEIGHT' ('NEUTRAL')
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES RAISES DERWENT LONDON PRICE TARGET TO 3280 (3062) PENCE - 'BUY'
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BERENBERG RAISES ESURE GROUP TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - TARGET 286 (267) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Following the study of various structural alternatives, BHP Billiton Ltd said its preferred option for simplifying its portfolio is a demerger of a selection of its assets. The mining giant has been working to simplify its portfolio for more than a decade as it looks at options to make the company simpler and more productive. In April BHP Billiton said it was turning its focus to the next phase of its overall portfolio simplification and that it had begun to examine structural options. "We believe that a portfolio focused on our major iron ore, copper, coal and petroleum assets would retain the benefits of diversification, generate stronger growth in cash flow and a superior return on investment," the FTSE 100-listed miner said Friday.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Balfour Beatty PLC reaffirmed it does not want to accept the merger proposal of fellow construction company Carillion PLC. In a statement, Balfour Beatty said it has considered a number of factors, including potential for synergies, cost and execution risks, and a reduced exposure to recovery in UK construction, ahead of reaching its decision. The company also cited the sale of its US project management business, Parsons Brinckerhoff, which has become a serious bone of contention for the two companies, saying that terminating the sale process would risk damaging a "significant part of the value" of the company.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Zanaga Iron Ore Co Ltd said the Zanaga iron-ore project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a joint venture between the firm and Glencore PLC, has been granted a mining licence and said the companies have signed a mining convention with the African country's government. Zanaga said the project is planned as a low-cost iron-ore operation and said it will be developed in two stages. The first will involve a 12 million tonnes per annum operation, with the second stage to expand this by a further 18Mtpa to produce a total of 30Mtpa in high-quality iron-ore pellet feed product over a 30-year mine life.
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Eland Oil & Gas PLC said its losses widened in the first half of 2014, and it has just acquired a 40% interest in the Ubima Field, onshore Niger Delta. Eland Oil & Gas is a Nigeria and West Africa focused oil and gas exploration and development company. The company reported a pretax loss of USD11.9 million for the six months to June 30, compared with USD11.0 million in the first half of last year, due to higher operating expenses, including increased salary costs, and a net foreign exchange loss. Eland said that it is planning a seven-well development drilling programme in the Opuama field, onshore Nigeria, which it plans to commence in the fourth quarter and complete at least one new producing well in the period.
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Sunrise Resources PLC said it has got further positive results from the County Line diatomite project in the US state of Nevada, saying the results support a large tonnage potential at the site, sending its shares higher in early trade. Sunrise said testing showed consistency across all of the samples collected, comparable to those previously reported by the company in May, and said drilling or trenching and further minerals processing at the site is now justified.
7digital Group PLC said UBC Media Group PLC made a pretax loss in the year to March 31, prior to its reverse takeover of 7digital Inc to create the new company. UBC Media, a television and radio services firm, posted a full-year pretax loss of GBP1.8 million against GBP937,000 the year before, with revenue falling to GBP2.9 million from GBP3.8 million the year before.
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Ironveld PLC said it has submitted its final scoping report to the Republic of South Africa's Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism for the 15 megawatt DC Arc furnace the company intends to build on farm Altona 696LR.
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Tungsten Corp PLC said it has applied to the British British Business Bank for a potential investment of up to GBP50.0 million in matched funding in support of a debt placement. The British Business Bank is a UK government-owned financial institution focused on improving finance provision for smaller businesses. In a statement, Tungsten also said it is discussing the matter with a number of institutional investors, and has "progressed discussions" with a range of other third parties to support its invoice financing activities.
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Churchill China PLC said it has appointed David O'Connor as chief executive with immediate effect. The manufacturer and distributor of performance ceramic and related products to hospitality and retail markets said O'Connor takes on the position from Andrew Roper who is retiring from the position after more than 40 years of service in a variety of senior executive roles including seven years as CEO.
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RapidCloud International PLC said it has signed a contract with the registrar of companies for a country in Southeast Asia, and also has won a contract with the courier division of a budget airline. The Southeast Asia-based software solutions provider did not disclose the name of either of the companies, but said the contracts are helping it to gain traction in significant new markets including the public sector.
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Oxford BioMedica PLC said it has appointed Paul Blake, a non-executive director, to the executive management team as chief development officer. The appointment takes effect September 1, 2014, said the company. In the new role Blake will remain a member of the board and will assume responsibility for the clinical development of Oxford BioMedica's pipeline of gene and cell therapies.
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Akers Biosciences Inc said it has appointed Thomas Knox as non-executive co-chairman of the board. The rapid diagnostic screening and testing products designer and manufacturer said Knox joined the company as a non-executive director July 1, 2013. He is currently CEO of Knox Consulting Group, an advisory and investment firm.
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International Mining & Infrastructure Corp PLC said James Ward, who was serving as the company's part-time finance director, has stepped down with immediate effect. The African iron-ore focused company said Ward's role will be temporarily filled by Chairman Haresh Kanabar until a permanent replacement has been found.
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Baobab Resources PLC, a Mozambique-focused pig iron and ferro-vanadium company, said it has appointed Frank Eagar as its new finance director. Eagar, aged 37, is currently the company's chief financial officer and new business manager.
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Japan Residential Occupancy Rate 94.2%, Down YoY
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Kazakhmys
iEnergizer
Terra Capital
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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